Front Plate

[R W]

Have a Fordson Major that has been fitted with a Cranvel FE Loader, engine is out of it at the moment and in a stand.
It appears the the bolts that hold the side rails have come loose resulting in badly elongated & oversize holes in the side rails and in the ears of the front engine plate.
Any opinions on welding up the holes in the front plate and re drilling and welding in a back up plate , using 3 or 4 short welds on the edges.
The engine being in a stand can be rotated to facilitate welding.

[AdrianNPMajor]

Sorry that I don't have any advice on your welding question. Is there any chance of a photo of your engine in its stand?

[henk]

Sounds a good plan.

[R W]

[quote="AdrianNPMajor"]Sorry that I don't have any advice on your welding question. Is there any chance of a photo of your engine in its stand?[/quote]
Have sent a PM re photo.
Stand is similar in design to those seen on ebay or available from tool suppliers etc. The main difference being is that mine is
stronger and heavier. A 1/2" plate was drilled to accomodate all bolt holes in the back of the engine (flywheel removed) instead of using adjustable arms as used in most commercial units. Engine can be rotated and held in 4 different positions, for extra support a screw jack is placed under the
front once the engine is in the desired position. Rotation is reasonably easy using a 4ft bar.

[Dons62FSM]

I am not familiar with your loader setup but I have a Ford 712 loader which uses heavy frame rails. On my tractor, and on many other loaders from what I have been told, the ears on the front plate are cut off during installation. The front of the engine 'floats' and there is a heavy strap across the bottom of the oil pan sump as a 'deflection limiter'. This is apparently done to remove the loader shock loads from the front of the motor to prevent damage to the motor. So I wonder just how important those connections are on your tractor? I do not know how bad your damage is but I would certainly consider putting in some new bolts, perhaps larger, and tightening them well. Bolts actually hold things together by tension and friction between the parts, the fit of the bolt in the hole does not really matter as long as there is enough tension. You could use high strength grade 8 bolts, nuts, and washers if you wish to tighten things up more.

Of course, if originality is important to you then your plan certainly seems good.

[Pavel]

On a number of occasions when I have come across boltholes that have enlarged I've gone to a close size metric equivalent. For instance if, in your case, the bolts are 5/8 unc I've used a no 16 metric which is, near enough, 0.005 thou larger.
The problem, though, is that by using SAE 8 bolts and nuts, which can be torqued to 220 ft.lbs, or SAE 7 ones [190 ft.lbs], using spring washers as a locking device will not work because the surfaces of the fastener is so hard the sharp edges of the springs cannot 'bite' into the metal. I suggest that, for a lasting grip, you use flat washers and Loctite.
Pavel